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Broken windscreens

Well after much thought and brain storming, Looking at what other people have done for the front cap to stiffen it up,
I have decided to put a rod under the dash and jack the walls out so the windscreens fit properly and wont move sideways as I drive along, Its about a foot down from the point where I want to jack it out from, But It will do the trick as the side walls will move easily at that point, I need about an inch on both sides to move out,
I will also stiffen the frame inside the front cap and put diagonal  braces in there to stop it all moving,
My Coach is different as it has been converted to Right hand drive,
The dash when it was cut and reversed cant be stiffened up as the wiring and instruments are in the way,
There is nothing to stop the front cap moving, There is nothing in the dash that can be stiffened either, so under it is the only way I can go,
Up on my ramps makes it easier to get at, I can get under it and thru the top at the same time, Short ladder helps,
I am lucky I can do all the work myself,
I had electricians look at my wiring problems and they bolted, Too far out of their depth, hahaha, My Coach is beyond them, I have got it almost right, But it will do for the time being, Its drivable, with out any problems,
I drove it 600 Kilometres at Xmas, and it is going good,
I am entering it in a 3 day Rod and  Rock and roll  show in Shepparton in Feb, It gets a lot of interest as no one has seen on of these here,
I also added a few piccys looking thru my front window at the view at my house, and surrounding area,
Straight forward is Mt Dandenong, Its a very big tourist area here, and looking out the rear bedroom above the trees in the background is the Yarra Valley, another big tourist area that has a lot of vinyards and wine area,
It also has the best motor bike riding roads in Australia,
A few out of the rear bedroom window, Yes thats my drive down there, The Coach comes up it on idle, Doesnt know my drive is steep,
Has Grunt in that motor, It goes any where, I love it, 
I have nearly finished with all my Mods, Lucky I have plenty of Patience, Hahahaha


,
Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #1 –
Melbourne Australia, One day, Its 30 + Celcius, next day raining and cold,
Above these piccys in the distance,is the Yarra Valley, Big Vinyard and wine region, Tourist area,
Healesville, is in the distance,
Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #2 –
Ah my favorite coach.  300 ored makes the newer models  pale by comparison up hills.

Would unwind the speedo cable up all 6% interstate grades until you haired out.

8mpg floored.  10 mpg at 75

Coach will climb steeper grades in reverse as the overall ratio is lower.  Not that the 300 needs it

"Riding and rejoicing"
Bob
1997 U320 40' Mid entry, build 5132,  wtbi ce27, 4th owner
2007 Solara convertible
2 prodeco tech outlaw ss electric bikes

1095 watts solar
08 Ls 460 and a sc430
2000 Ford F-250 superduty 4x4

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Caflashbob –
Ah my favorite coach.  300 ored makes the newer models  pale by comparison up hills.

Would unwind the speedo cable up all 6% interstate grades until you haired out.

8mpg floored.  10 mpg at 75

Coach will climb steeper grades in reverse as the overall ratio is lower.  Not that the 300 needs it

It certainly gets up and Tangoes, Hahahaha, I come to a hill, It accelerates, Cars behind want to pass, I leave them in the dust, Im gone, They cant catch it,



Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #4 –
Yes the cars finally backed off when I went past 80 every time.
"Riding and rejoicing"
Bob
1997 U320 40' Mid entry, build 5132,  wtbi ce27, 4th owner
2007 Solara convertible
2 prodeco tech outlaw ss electric bikes

1095 watts solar
08 Ls 460 and a sc430
2000 Ford F-250 superduty 4x4

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #5 –
Brian, can't find the other post, but how about measuring things this way? (NOTE: Rube Goldberg mind at work here)
open your sliding windows on each side==the little ones up front.
Run a taut string/line from outside to outside (maybe hang a weight on each end to keep the string tight). Then slide the windows shut.
Now measure from the string to the center point of your windshield.
Maybe someone else can do the same and provide you with what the dimension is supposed to be.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #6 –
Quote from: nitehawk –
Brian, can't find the other post, but how about measuring things this way? (NOTE: Rube Goldberg mind at work here)
open your sliding windows on each side==the little ones up front.
Run a taut string/line from outside to outside (maybe hang a weight on each end to keep the string tight). Then slide the windows shut.
Now measure from the string to the center point of your windshield.
Maybe someone else can do the same and provide you with what the dimension is supposed to be.

Thats a really great Idea Norm, That makes it so easy, Thanks Mate, I will do that,
Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #7 –
Brian I made a similar suggestion in your other post on  "Need measurements" Only difference is I suggested you tie the string to a point at were the cap is joined to side walls slightly behind chairs.
JohnH
Coachless, now use aircraft. 2003 Ford Travelair TC280 class C. Super shape. Just for 1 yr .
1994 Ford E350 ClassC,total renovation inside and out. Now sold.
2000 U295  36' Cummins 350 c/w Banks Stinger, Resonator upgrade,Solar, LED lites.Residential fridge with slide out pantry. Build 5674. Sold
ex 92 GV 022C ored Cummins. Sold
ex 95 GV240 cat 3116. Sold
2017 Mini cooper s & 2016 land Rover LR2 HSE  LUX.
jhaygarth@aol.com    SKP #130098
treat everyone as you would like to be.

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #8 –
Quote from: John Haygarth –
Brian I made a similar suggestion in your other post on  "Need measurements" Only difference is I suggested you tie the string to a point at were the cap is joined to side walls slightly behind chairs.
JohnH

Thanks John,
But I live by myself , I dont have any one to help me, So It makes it a bit hard as the coach is wider than my arms,
I dont like using string as you cant get a good accurate measurement,
I was going to make up a sliding tube that I can jam against both walls and it will give me a good solid point to work too,
A steel tube thru both small windows and shut the windows, will give me an accurate base to work with too, so I can measure the bottom of the windscreens at the centre back to the Tube,

It will make it easy for any one to get the same measurements from their Coach,


I will make up an angle iron stiffener this afternoon, It will be in line with the big angle that sits on top of the chassis,
I will screw it thru the floor and the vertical timber that is the back of the dash and comes off the big cross member angle iron on the chassis and weld a diagonal brace in there as well,
That will lock it all in, it should stop it all moving,
Then the front cap to see how it needs to be moved, But I will need the measurements for that, Im not sure if I have that here somewhere.

Not sure how Im going to jack the front out if it needs moving out, Yet, I will see what happens when I release the Bumper, It may pop out by itself,
I will do that before I weld any stiffeners in,

The water tank under the dash makes it hard as I dont want to put holes in it, Screwing bolts into the Box its in,

Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #9 –
Can you use a come along and hook to a solid object and pull the nose out?
1999 40 ft. U-320 wtfe build 5563 Chuck & Lynda's "Rollin' Inn"  2030 watts solar
prev. mh's 71 GMC 5 yrs. 73 Pace Setter 1 yr. 78 Vogue 5 yrs 81 FTX 40ft all electric 18 yrs. 1996 Monaco Signature 3 yrs.
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland
Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die today.  James Dean

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #10 –
Here we go, After finally removing the angle bracket that was in the coach to stiffen the front,
Needed new Tork screw sockets as I didnt have any, I finally got it out,
Talk about a hassle, I had to grind a hole thru the angle to cut the top bolts off, No room to use tools that I have,
I have welded up a new stronger stiffening bracket to go in to hold the front of the coach solid, This new square one is on the left side of the coach, This is a long term permanent fix, With no glue involved,
The top of it is bolted thru the firewall about 2 inches below the underside of the dash Top, The lift up bit, vertically every 8 inches or so has a bolt thru the firewall,

This should have been done from original, It is a flaw from Foretravel, It would be very expensive to fix if you cant do it your self,
Possibly cutting the dash for the R/H conversion has loaded up the glue allowing it to fail, The weak spots finally gave up the ghost,

The big right hand bracket I made, The one in the piccy, Goes under the floor at the back of the Firewall,
It bolts the floor to the angle and the firewall,
This is then welded to the top of the chassis, and bolted thru the firewall as well, The vertical part of it.
On the end of the big Existing cross coach angle bracket, I will weld a brace in, end of the existing angle to bottom of chassis,
Covering such a large area, the steel brackets make the plywood firewall redundant as to a structural member, Its just to keep the bugs out now,
A flush stainless plate on the outside bolted thru the fibreglass from the outside to a steel plate on the inside and welded to the Angle iron backing the front brackets under the dash, will make the sides under the windows immovable,
The last piccy is the flimsy bracket I removed from the coach,
The big shiny bolt heads with allen key heads is thru the bracket I made and screwed in behind the firewall, Its bolted to the floor as well,





Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #11 –
Brian,

Just curious since we have the same coach...do you attribute most of your issues with the right hand drive conversion?  If so was it required for you to export to Australia? I don't recall in you original posts if you covered that.  I have my original windshields and 187,000 on the odometer and the PO took her to some rough areas of Alaska twice and I see no signs of sagging or weak spots under my dash.

Keep up the good work!
Jeff
Jeff & Carrie
2023 Geneva 31VA
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED "The Button Pusher" - GONE 🥺

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #12 –
Jeff, Brian did cover all that in one of his first posts. Australia has some of the toughest rules for importing vehicles and all have to be converted, even tail lights and he had to have another door installed on passenger side so Brian has the only GV that has 2 doors operational. I am sure he will agree that the place in LA that did this conversion before shipping it to Ossie' are responsible for all his problems to date.
Given the fact FTs are not represented over there (and the cost of shipping things from USA) he is facing an uphill battle to get it sorted out. I admire his openess and ability to do what many would say "forget it"
JohnH
Coachless, now use aircraft. 2003 Ford Travelair TC280 class C. Super shape. Just for 1 yr .
1994 Ford E350 ClassC,total renovation inside and out. Now sold.
2000 U295  36' Cummins 350 c/w Banks Stinger, Resonator upgrade,Solar, LED lites.Residential fridge with slide out pantry. Build 5674. Sold
ex 92 GV 022C ored Cummins. Sold
ex 95 GV240 cat 3116. Sold
2017 Mini cooper s & 2016 land Rover LR2 HSE  LUX.
jhaygarth@aol.com    SKP #130098
treat everyone as you would like to be.

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #13 –
Is the one door ored less likely to have this issue than the unihome?
Old Phart Phred, EIEIO
89 GV ored 36' #3405 300 hp cat 3208 ATAAC side radiator, mountain tamer exhaust brake

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #14 –
Quote from: Old phart phred –
Is the one door ored less likely to have this issue than the unihome?

Thats a very good point you have made there,
Does the two doors take the structural stability out of the coach's body, allowing it to flex more,
I will look into that,
But it shouldnt as the floor is sitting on the chassis, And the chassis is rigid, It shouldnt move, The air bags lift it up and down separately,
Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #15 –
Quote from: danieljeff545 –
Brian,

Just curious since we have the same coach...do you attribute most of your issues with the right hand drive conversion?  If so was it required for you to export to Australia? I don't recall in you original posts if you covered that.  I have my original windshields and 187,000 on the odometer and the PO took her to some rough areas of Alaska twice and I see no signs of sagging or weak spots under my dash.

Keep up the good work!
Jeff

It was a requirement to have right hand drive conversion to get the coach registered here, ADR's,
Its no longer necessary as they have changed the laws again,
But I wouldnt drive a coach of this size here with left hand drive, Thats down right scary,
Right hand conversions start at 30 grand here,  OZ, The land of the rippoff's,
It cost 15 grand in the USA for all the conversion, Gas, Electric, L/H door and R/H drive,
That Left hand door here is over 3 grand unfitted,  I can import one from the USA for $450-00.
My windscreens are $4500-00 AUD delivered from Foretravel,
Hence the reason for cutting them down to the flat part, and perspex corners,

The dash being cut and changed over, left the dash floating, Which strained all the glued parts,  It dont take much movement to make the glued parts to fail,
Im getting there, It just takes time,
I have the new big bracket in, Just sitting in place, Not welded yet, Im very confident it will work, But its raining again, So nothing being done,

187000 miles and still have the original windscreens is nice to know,  That gives me confidence, That Im on the right track,
108,000 when I got it, I have done 5000 miles in it,
I still love it with all its faults, Its an old coach, so I expect faults,
Any thing man made will fail eventually,
My drive puts a lot of twist on the coach body, The top and bottom really gives it a bashing, The top is 1 in 3 and goes to dead flat in the length of the coach,
The last piccy is the bottom of my drive, where the bike is parked,


Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #16 –
Brian,

What happened to your tractor?  There's gotta be a good story there!
1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"
 

Re: Broken windscreens

Reply #17 –
Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie –
Brian,

What happened to your tractor?  There's gotta be a good story there!

Hahahaha, It got tired and laid down for a rest.
I had a tree fall across the drive, The SES came out and cut a hole thru it so I could get out, They will only cut enough for access and dont take any thing away,
But in the cleaning up process, I rolled it with me on it,
Its a steep drive, and the log I was lifting was too heavy for the tractor and over it went,
Its a toy chinese tractor, Hobby farmer thing, But I use it as a 25 ton excavator, Hahahaha, It has paid for itself, I have broken the gearbox in half, Thats my next job, Replacing the gearbox in it, Its the one that the axles come out of, The whole rear of the tractor is one big gear box,
I got a brand new one from China, $254-00 USD, $500-00 to get it here,
Second time I rolled the Tractor,  Hahahaha, I like to live dangerous,
It happens when you live by yourself and no one to help,

Cheers, Brian,
1989 Foretravel Grand Villa, 36 foot ORED, 300 HP Catapillar and Four Speed Allison Auto,
Right Hand drive, two Mid doors, Makes a good flow thru ventilation in hot weather,
Located in Melbourne, Australia,  The Land Down Under,
Honda Blackbird, 1100XX.    2002 Gemini 105 MC Catamaran,